College Readiness for All?: 2012

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Gender & College Readiness

This 2009 study entitled "Gender Differences in College Preparedness" examined the following questions related to gender & college readiness:

"1. What is the difference in the percentages of boys and girls who were deemed to be college-ready graduates in reading, in math, and in both subjects in the state of Texas?

"2. What is the difference in the percentages of boys and girls who took the SAT or ACT in the 2005–2006 and the 2006–2007 school years?

"3. What is the difference in the percentages of boys and girls who were at or above the SAT or ACT criterion in the 2005–2006 and the 2006–2007 school years?

"4. What is the difference in the ACT averages of boys and girls in the 2005–2006 and the 2006–2007 school years?

"5. What is the difference in the SAT averages of boys and girls in the 2005–2006 and the 2006–2007 school years?"

The researchers found that while not even a third of students surveyed were determined to be "college-ready" in both reading and math based on their SAT & ACT scores, large gaps in the percentage of college ready students persisted (girls being stronger in reading and boys being stronger in math). Girls had slightly higher rates of preparedness in both areas than boys did.

College Readiness for All: The Challenge for Urban High Schools

From the summary of the study, published in the Spring 2009 issue of The Future of Children

"Melissa Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca focus on the importance of improving college access and readiness for low-income and minority students in urban high schools. They stress the aspirations-attainment gap: although the college aspirations of all U.S. high school students, regardless of race, ethnicity, and family income, have increased dramatically over the past several decades, significant disparities remain in college readiness and enrollment.

"The authors emphasize the need for researchers and policy makers to be explicit about precisely which sets of knowledge and skills shape college access and performance and about how best to measure those skills. They identify four essential sets of skills: content knowledge and basic skills; core academic skills; non-cognitive, or behavioral, skills; and "college knowledge," the ability to effectively search for and apply to college. High schools, they say, must stress all four.

"The authors also examine different ways of assessing college readiness. The three most commonly recognized indicators used by colleges, they say, are coursework required for college admission, achievement test scores, and grade point averages. Student performance on all of these indicators of readiness reveals significant racial and ethnic disparities.

"To turn college aspirations into college attainment, high schools and teachers need clear indicators of college readiness and clear performance standards for those indicators. These standards, say the authors, must be set at the performance level necessary for high school students to have a high probability of gaining access to four-year colleges. The standards must allow schools and districts to assess where their students currently stand and to measure their progress. The standards must also give clear guidance about what students need to do to improve."

College Readiness and the Impending Reauthorization of ESEA

One of the things stuck in the molasses of the current Congress is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (most recently authorized under the title of "No Child Left Behind"). This February 2010 policy paper called "REINVENTING THE FEDERAL ROLEIN EDUCATION: Supporting the Goal of College and Career Readiness for All Students", published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, argues their view on what the reauthorized ESEA should include; their view focuses heavily on college & career readiness.

An excerpt:

"It is time to harness this progress and momentum, and convert commitment and proposals into are authorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) designed to address the high school crisis and move toward the goal of all students graduating from high school ready for college and careers.

Federal policy must be updated,not only to maintain pace with the common standards initiative, but also to serve as,a leader and partner in helping bring efforts to fruition. The nation cannot afford to let another generation of students pass through the system, drop out, or exit unprepared for college and careers.

ESEA reauthorization should:

• Establish college and career readiness as the common goal for all students;

• Ensure meaningful accountability for high school outcomes designed around common indicators of college and career readiness and high school graduation;

• Replace the current flawed, one-size-fits-all school improvement process with requirements for state- and district-led systems that are differentiated and data driven, and prioritize addressing the lowest-performing high schools;

• Support strategies necessary to implement, high school improvement at a much larger scale, including district-wide efforts, maximizing the role of entities outside the school system with expertise to contribute;

• Build the capacity of the system to implement innovative solutions—bold approaches to teaching and learning, school organization, and system structure; and

• Provide new funding for the implementation of innovative solutions to address low-performing high schools."

College Readiness is about more than just academic learning

Numerous researchers have written about the non-academic skills necessary for a student to have in order to be truly college-ready. These scholars write about coping skills and general "street smarts" that students need to navigate the college environment, such as study habits, knowledge about where to go for assistance, and simply what college students are supposed to do on a daily basis.

The author of the 2009 article "Social Class and College Readiness" argues that social class affects whether students gain this important knowledge. The author remarks that first-generation college students are less likely to be aware of how to navigate professors' requirements and college policies than their second- and third-generation peers because their parents cannot impart this knowledge to them. The author states that this is knowledge necessary for all students entering college but that social class can compound the lack-of-readiness of students from working class backgrounds.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

Much of the current buzz about college readiness is linked to the Obama Administration's plans for the reauthorization of current federal education laws. According to an April 2012 article in Community College Week, Obama's goal in creating Race to the Top was to change the focus of schooling from grade-level proficiency, as emphasized by No Child Left Behind, to ensuring that by 2020, all students are college & career ready when they graduate from high school. These changes, the article states, would mark a drastic departure from federal policy under NCLB and would focus more on positive progress schools make rather than on punishing schools for poor performance.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

College & Career Readiness is not just about College

It's also about the military. One day last year, my assistant principal and I discussed the future of one of our more troubled and troublesome seniors (who ultimately failed to graduate in 2012). This student had expressed to me a desire to enter the military, which would not have been a good option based on this student's behavior. But my assistant principal commented that in light of defense cuts and the end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military can be much more selective about who they enlist, and our student would not make the cut.

In this article called "Shut Out of the Military: Today's High School Education Doesn't Mean You are Ready for Today's Army", The Education Trust argues that just as high schools aren't preparing students for college-level work, they also are not providing students with the skills they to pass the military enlistment test (the ASVAB) and pursue military service, and students of color are scoring much lower than their white peers. The article states "Among white test-takers, 16 percent scored below the minimum score required by the Army. For Hispanic candidates, the rate of ineligibility was 29 percent. And for African-American youth, it was 39 percent." While this article does not provide any specific recommendations for strengthening high school programs or for preparing students for greater success on the ASVAB, it does call attention to the fact that the military may not be a viable post-secondary option for many students, especially those who (traditionally? stereotypically?) are not college-bound.

College Board and ACT weigh in on College Readiness

I guess it makes sense. College Board and ACT are gatekeepers to higher education--students must score as high as possible on the SAT and ACT in order to win a spot at their dream college, and these tests presume to predict student success in college. Each year both organzations issue reports on college & career readiness based on student achievement on these two entrance exams.

College Board: "The SAT Report on College & Career Readiness released today revealed that only 43 percent of SAT® takers in the class of 2012 graduated from high school with the level of academic preparedness associated with a high likelihood of college success. These findings are based on the percentage of students in the class of 2012 who met the SAT College & Career Readiness Benchmark, which research shows is associated with higher rates of enrollment in four-year colleges, higher first-year college GPAs and higher rates of retention beyond the first year."

ACT: "In 2012, 67% of all ACT-tested high school graduates met the English College Readiness Benchmark, while 25% met the College Readiness Benchmarks in all four subjects. Fifty-two percent of graduates met the Reading Benchmark and 46% met the Mathematics Benchmark. Just under 1 in 3 (31%) met the College Readiness Benchmark in Science."

You can read the full reports on the class of 2012 at these links:
ACT
College Board

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Mitt Romney Didn't Build This

Please pardon the political joke...I couldn't resist.

Anyway, Massachusetts is lauded as having the best education system in the nation (although Maryland also claim that distinction for itself...), and it's College & Career Readiness website is quite extensive. The Mass. DOE states its definition of college & career readiness, the two goals the state has set for itself in this realm, and how its seven existing initiatives support these goals. Of all the state-level college & career readiness websites I've surveyed, Massachusetts definitely seems to be leading the pack on this.

For comparison, here are some links to other states' College & Career Readiness Office pages:
Maryland (which is a bit embarrassing)
New Jersey's College & Career Readiness Task Force Report
Texas (not bad for a conservative state that refused to play along with Race to the Top)
What does California mean when it talks about College & Career Readiness?
Hawai'i

Sunday, November 4, 2012

'College for All' Reconsidered: Are Four-Year Degrees for All?

This June 2011 Education Week article argues that a four-year degree might not be the most beneficial post-secondary option for many students and the value of pursuing studies at a four-year institution. The author argues that at least one year of post-secondary education will be necessary in order for students to have the proper training for the jobs that will be available, but this post-secondary education could be an occupational certificate or associate degree.

Defining College Readiness for Students with Learning Disabilities

This article was published in the April 2009 issue of Professional School Counseling and describes a study designed to identify all of the college readiness factors affecting students with learning disabilities. The study identified over sixty factors that affect students' achievement in college (most of which are not unique to students with special needs) and argues the importance of precisely identifying particular students' strengths & weaknesses and the specific interventions necessary to meet student needs. The study also argues the importance of the counselors' role, especially on IEP teams as they develop transition plans for students.

"An informal examination of the final 62 items reveals possible groupings under which the factors could be organized. For example, factors such as confidence, resilience, coping skills, and strong work ethic reflect innate characteristics important to success. Academic skills (e.g., basic math skills, writing skills) and broad study skills (e.g., time management skills, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, note-taking skills) could be grouped together to encompass more traditional college preparation focus areas. Skills to function autonomously is another possible grouping that might include factors such as self-determination skills and accepts responsibility for actions. Another grouping could focus on skills necessary to work effectively with others, including social skills, communication skills, and self-advocacy skills. Finally, knowledge of self and of college might be two final groupings. The former could include factors such as knowledge of personal strengths and weaknesses and knowledge of whether the available college accommodations fit their individual needs, while the latter might include factors such as knowledge that college is different than high school and knowledge of legal rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act."

The Conclusion:
"This study provides justification for school counselors to take a comprehensive approach to postsecondary transition planning with students with learning disabilities. School counselors are encouraged to use the list of factors as a starting point to guide their work during postsecondary transition planning for students with learning disabilities. They might find that all students, not just those with learning disabilities, can benefit from interventions targeting many of the factors. What is lacking, however, is empirical support for interventions that can used by high school counselors and teachers to address the college readiness factors. School counselors are strongly encouraged to collect data that can help to inform their and others' future work with students with learning disabilities."

College for All?

This article from the Autumn 2011 issue of Wilson Quarterly examines arguments against college-for-all and argues that in order for President Obama's college graduation goals to be achieved, secondary education must be improved so that students are prepared for college. The author also argues that institutions & policymakers must reduce attrition not only from high school but also from "grades 13 and 14" in college and provides some suggestions to achieve this goal.

Monday, October 29, 2012

College & Career

This article from the April 2012 issue of Educational Leadership summarizes the history of research into college & career readiness skills & standards and identifies steps schools can take to promote college & career readiness within their communities.

Standards Alone Not Enough to Prepare Students for College and Careers

Apparantly, not all states that have adopted Common Core or other college-ready standards have aligned required courses to meet these standards and/or have allowed students to opt out of some of the requirements. The Education Trust finds this problmatic. I find this bizarre. First, how will students meet the standards if their coursework is not aligned with them? Secondly, the Education Trust points out that this creates two different "types" of high school diplomas. Shouldn't all diplomas be created equal?

Attendance & College-Readiness

Again from the desk of Corey Bower: Attendance--In-School or Non-School Problem. He doesn't touch on the concept of college-readiness, but his post begs the question of how college-ready standards and behaviors would treat chronic absenteeism. If we are going to teach students the skills and habits of mind they need to be successful in post-secondary education (or work, for that matter), don't they a) need to show up for those lessons and b) be directly taught that attendance matters? The school where I work has very good attendance, but the students who are chronically late and/or absent haven't gotten the message that attendance is critical. How can we communicate this more effectively in the context of college & career-ready teaching?

_________________ Shouldn't Attend College?

Currently, my personal opinion is that college isn't right for everyone. BUT as a teacher, it is not my place to be the college gatekeeper. Everyone should have the opportunity to pursue a college degree.

Corey Bower, blogger at Thoughts on Education Policy, posted this piece in 2010 entitled "___________ Shouldn't Attend College" in response to a New York Times article arguing for a social-efficiency-based perspective on who should go to college and whether college is economically worthwhile for all students. Both pieces, along with Bower's Education Roundtable discussion on the topic raise issues of equity, access, and value that are worth considering as college-readiness becomes the end goal of the public K-12 system.

Should all students attend college? If not, who shouldn't? And where does a "college-ready" education leave them?

College Readiness for All?

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